


A Waiting Game, with Email

by ElegantPi



Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon, Snippet, Unfinished and Discontinued
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-20
Updated: 2010-10-20
Packaged: 2017-10-12 18:59:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/128028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElegantPi/pseuds/ElegantPi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As they wait to learn Atlantis's fate, John talks with Ronon and Rodney over lunch about an email from Teyla. Rodney's not hungry, and Vala wants to visit Atlantis.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Waiting Game, with Email

**Author's Note:**

> And this is a left-over scene from my *other* Atlantis Big Bang story that didn't get finished. It made me laugh when I re-read it, so I thought I might share it. I'll probably never go back to this story - it was impossibly bleak, and also unpleasant to write. This is one of the few light-hearted(ish) scenes.

“Got an email from Teyla,” John says, plunking himself down at the table. Ronon has his feet kicked up, taking up one whole side, so he has to sit by McKay, who is pushing food around on his plate. John stabs at the piece of processed meat covered in gravy and ignores the pile of peas – from a _can_ – heaped beside it. “Is it just me, or was the food in the Pegasus Galaxy much, much better than this?”

Rodney looks up from his plate and says, “Hmm?” and John wonders if Earth is dulling Rodney's brain. He doesn't seem to be liking the food much, though.

Ronon shrugs. His plate is clean, but after knowing the man for years, John is pretty sure he’ll eat anything.

“You said you got an email from Teyla?” Rodney takes out his tablet and taps at it hopefully – checking his email? “Any news?”

“Is this horsemeat under the gravy?” asks John.

Ronon gives him a sneering look. “You people are really picky about your food.” John smirks in his general direction.

“Salisbury steak,” says Rodney. “Hey... I didn't get an email. Wouldn't Teyla copy me if it was about Atlantis?” He looks at Ronon. “Did you get an email?”

Ronon just looks at him for a moment the shifts his gaze to John. “What'd it say?”

“You know, she hasn't emailed me once since she's been at the SGC. You would think...”

“Rodney. Please, stop pouting.” John snags Rodney's uneaten roll.

“What? But... Hey, that's mine!”

“You weren't eating it." John bites into the roll, then continues. "She says she expects the decision to be made about Atlantis in the next day or so. We'll know by Friday, I guess.”

“What else did she say?” Ronon asks.

John wonders if Teyla's been emailing Ronon, too. Probably. Maybe not about the same stuff that she emails John about. They share in the Pegasus Galaxy heritage, and Atlantis means something a lot different to them than the city means to him or anyone else on Earth. Ronon called Atlantis “home” a couple of months ago, but John wonders how he feels about Earth, after having been here for two months. He's getting restless – John's coming out of their sparring sessions with more bruises than usual. Not that John isn't restless, too. Adrenaline's addictive, and they've been cooling their heels for far too long now, stuck in limbo while Atlantis is repaired, and now, waiting to hear what's to become of her. What's to become of all of them. Waiting to hear whether they and their city can go home.

“Not much," John says, "But I get the feeling she's sorry she didn't take her sticks with her to Colorado.” He pushes his tray away from him. Who knew he'd be dying for _tava_ bean soup or one of the myriad fish stews the Atlantis cooks had invented?

“Aren't you supposed to have dinner with Keller tonight?” Ronon asks.

Rodney swallows and picks up his fork again to move food around his plate. Usually he's trying to steal off of John's plate by this time. “Yeah... later. I mean, I'm taking a chopper over to San Francisco and then driving out to meet her at SFO. She's getting in from Wisconsin tonight.”

“I thought you were going with her, by the way,” says John. "I didn't realize she'd already left and come back."

“Yes, and who would supervise repairs around here if I wasn't around to do it?” Rodney snaps “Kavanagh?”

“Zelenka could've handled it,” John says. “I thought you were, you know, going to meet her dad and all that.”

Ronon snorts, and Rodney gives him that I Know What That Snort Means Yes Ha Ha Very Funny Look(TM).

“You know, Rodney...” And as soon as John opens his mouth, Rodney turns the Look on him, and it's taking on dangerous nuances of Say One More Thing And I'll Make Atlantis Think She Hates You(TM), so John throw up his hands in a mockery of surrender. “OK, minding my own business, now.”

“So... Teyla,” Rodney mumbles around a mouthful of roll.

“What about her?”

“She's OK?”

“I don't know about OK... These sessions with the government and with the IOA have really worn her down. But she mentioned that she went shopping with Vala this afternoon. She says she finds Earth commerce 'very entertaining' and also expresses doubt over the quality of mass-produced items while admitting that the convenience of them might – _might_ – outweigh the decrease in said quality.”

“Shopping with Vala,” Rodney muses. “I bet she comes back with all kinds of hot outfits.”

Rodney looks like he's about to drool, so John reaches over and smacks him on the back of the head.

“Ow! What? What was that for?”

“You've got Jennifer coming in tonight to see your pitiful self, and Teyla's married or however it is they arrange things in Pegasus. Stop picturing her in 'hot outfits', especially anything picked out by Vala.”

“Who's Vala?” Ronon asks. His expression adds, _Hot outfits, what?_

“Thief,” says Rodney.

“Dr. Jackson's girlfriend,” says John.

“Not from Earth, violent tendencies, prances around in a tiara, has very nice...” Rodney ducks the swat this time and looks like he's thinking about smacking John back, so John smirks at him. Rodney mutters something under his breath and returns to picking at his food.

“Teyla also says Vala wants to visit Atlantis.”

"Ha!" Rodney snorts.

~*~

According to Teyla, the conversation had gone something like this:

“I think I'll go with you when you go back to Atlantis,” Vala said, perching on the edge of a desk piled with books while Daniel scribbled in a leatherbound journal. “Just a visit. Daniel's seen the city, but I never have.”

“You would be most welcome, I am sure,” Teyla replied. She wondered why Dr. Jackson did not make use of the computer sitting, dusty, on the other desk. On Atlantis, everyone used the tablets for making notes, and it seemed far more efficient to her than writing everything out by hand.

Before Teyla could voice her question, Daniel spoke up. “Over my dead body,” he said, tapping his pen absently against the page.

“What did you say?” Vala asked, drumming her nails on the desk.

“I said, over my dead body will you go to Atlantis. You'll pick up something you think is 'shiny' which will turn out to be an Ancient artifact with DO NOT TOUCH – CITY WILL EXPLODE written all over it in Ancient, and then the city will blow up. Hence, the over my dead body part.”

“OK,” said Vala. "Over your dead body then." She winked one eye at Teyla. At Daniel's answering glare, Vala held up her hands, eyes wide and brimming with innocence. “What? You never stay dead for long!”

~*~

“Oh, that'll be fun,” says Rodney. “From what I've heard, she'll steal anything that's not nailed to the...”

Ronon stands up. “I'm going to work out. You coming, Sheppard?

“Your punching bag is right behind you, buddy.”

“See you there. Hey, McKay.”

Rodney looks up, surprised. “Yeah?”

“Good luck tonight.” Ronon gives him a toothy, feral grin.

Rodney flushes. “Uh... yeah, OK, thanks.”

John stands up and claps Rodney on the shoulder. “Take care of my tray for me, will ya buddy? I'm about to get pounded on, and I need to conserve my energy.”

“Oh, yes, I clawed my way to the top of the astrophysics field, earned two doctorates, and risked life and limb in another galaxy just to be your busboy, Sheppard. I live to serve.”

“Attaboy.” Strolling away, John can still hear Rodney muttering to himself. John hopes Rodney will have a good time on his date tonight, but in his opinion, there's a day of reckoning coming soon for McKay and Keller. It's one more thing that John's not thinking about, because he's got no idea how that coin's going to come down. Sometime around Friday, he'll know whether Atlantis is going to need a new head scientist or not, because John is pretty certain that Dr. Keller has decided she's not going back to Pegasus. The signs are all there. Maybe Rodney hasn't seen them, or maybe they've worked things out between them and Rodney hasn't worked up the guts to let John in the loop yet.

Ronon's probably getting impatient, waiting on him. John winces, still feeling yesterday's bruises, and picks up his pace, grateful not to have to think about these things for just a little while longer.


End file.
